Apparatus for singeing cloth



(No Model.)

HATSANBOBN. APPARATUS FOR SINGEING CLOTH.

No. 559,610. I Patented May 5, 1896.

WITNESSES. INVEN'FQ 61% UNITED STATES PATENT i i l FFlCEo APPARATUS FOR SINGEING CLOTH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 559,610, dated May 5, 1896.

Application filed May 9, 1895. Serial No. 548,676. (No model.)

T0 (@253 whom it 11mg concern.-

Be it known that I, HARRISON T. SANBORN, a citizen of the United States, residing in Somerville, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Singeing Cloth by Means of the Flame from Petroleum or Petroleum-Oils,of which the following, with the annexed drawings, is a description.

My invention relates to apparatus for singeing, in which the cloth passes through a flame rather than over hot plates, and to the means by which a proper flame for the purpose may be obtained from petrole um-oi ls or crude petroleum. Gas is ordinarily used for this purpose bybeing brought in pipes to a proper location relative to the cloth and there burned by means or ordinary burners, holes, or slots in the pipes. The same method has been tried with petroleum and petroleum-oils, but there are serious practical difficulties in the way of obtaining satisfactory results in this manner of using such oils, due principally to the incomplete combustion of the oil, causing smoke to blacken the cloth and unconsumed particles of oil to be thrown upon the cloth. This oil, when once upon the cloth, interferes very seriously with the subsequent manipulations in dyeing, printing, the. For this reason it becomes practically necessary, in order to insure complete combustion, to burn such oils by atomizing them in a closed chamber in much the same manner as is done with them for various other purposes. I do not claim any invention in the mere fact that such a combustion chamber is used by me. It is inerelya necessary element of the means employed to attain the result, but the flame after being produced in the combustion-chainber must issue therefrom across the full width of the cloth to be singed and must issue evenly all the way across it, so that one part of the cloth will not be left unsinged while another is singed, nor one part be singed to a greater degree than another. It is in the means taken to produce this even flame that my invention consists.

of one of the combustion-chambers on line :2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an end view of the outside of the chamber, showing the arrangement of the atomizer-burner. Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the chamber on the dotted line 4: 4c of Fig. 2; and Figs. 5, 6, and 7 show a preferable form of adeflector as hereinafter described.

A combustion-chamber A, Figs. 2 and l, is preferably lined with fire-bricks X X X, the. or other refractory material. This chamber must be of a length sufficient for the width of the cloth, (indicated by the dotted lines L L over it, Figs. 1 and 2,) the length of the cloth being at right angles to the length of the chambers, as in the ordinary singein g apparatus. This chamber must also be of a suiiicient cross-section to permit of a thorough combustion of the oil or petroleum when injected into it. I have found that a chamber about seven to nine inches square in crosssection answers the purpose well. In the walls and lengthwise of this chamber a slot B or other equivalent orifice, as a series of holes in one or more rows, (see Fig. 1,) is formechmore usually at the top thereof, although this position is not an absolutely necessary one, since the cloth may be made to pass over it in other positions in which it may be placed. Still, for various reasons, it is preferable to place the slot at the top or near the top of the chamber. This slot or orifice is also preferably formed by placing long fire-brick beveled off on the under side, as shown at Y, Fig. 4, so as to leave a slot B of five-eighths to three-fourths of an inch, and in some cases even more, between the bricks forming the opposite sides thereof.

The petroleum or oil is supplied by an atomizer-burner G, of which there are a number upon the market which work successfully. These atomizer-burners supply the oil mingled with steam or compressed air, and always require some regulation from time to time in the relative amounts of oil or steam supplied by proper valves, as is well known to those accustomed to handle them. hen properly managed, the result, however, is always to eject the oil from the burner mingled with the air or steam under considerable pressure. Because of the ease and convenience in handling these valvesas required, and as the most convenientposition in which to place it, I have preferred to locate the burner at one end of the chamber and to direct it into it through a hole in one end thereof. This end of the chamber is preferably made of a cubical block Z, Fig. 2, of fire-clay or similar refractory material, with a conical hole through it, the larger end of the hole being toward the inside of the chamber. There is preferably no opening or flue in the end of the chamber opposite the burner, for, if properly regulated, practically perfect combustion takes place, and any outlet at the other end only interferes more or less with the flame issuing evenly throughout the length of the slot or orifice; but if the atomizer-burner O is simply pointed directlyinto the combustionchamber A, the force of the steam or compressed air will carry the flame toward the opposite end of the chamber, where it will issue from the orifice B, leaving the end nearer the burner without any or without its full share of flame. I have discovered, however, that by directing the burner so as to cause the atomized oil. and flame to strike upon some obstruction placed in the combustion-chamher about one-third the length of the chamher from the burner the flame may be equalized throughout the length of the slot, and caused to issue therefrom to practically a uniform extent throughout its entire length.

I prefer to use a deflector D, of the shape shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7. (See also Figs. 2 and 4.) Thisis made of an ordinary fire-brick or piece of one rounded off on. one end thereof, as shown, Fig. 6 being a side view of it, Fig. 7 a view of the end placed toward the burner, and Fig. 5 a plan view from the top. By means of such a deflector placed in the transverse middle of the chamber, and approximately one-third the length of the chamber from the burner,the flame and oil maybe made to strike upon it and the adjacent floor of the chamber at a variety of angles by changing very slightly the direction the burner is pointing, and by observing the intensity of the flame issuing from various parts of the slot the latter may in the same way be equalized in amount. Some little skill and experience are required to adjust the parts properly at first in each individual chamber; but when once adjusted they require little further attention beyond seeing that the fuel is properly atomized by the burner, as in case of its use for any other purpose. I do not mean to confine myself, however, to a deflector of the shape shown, for other shapes will answer the purpose to a greater or less degree, and in some instances the floors or sides of the combustion-chamber will alone be suflicient to accomplish the same purpose; Some obstruction is always necessary, however.

The deflector thus placed and the surface of the floor or sides appear to perform a two fold objectto deflect the flame already produced and to obstruct the flight of those particles of oil not yet ignited and give them the will issue from the slot at the end near the burner. Certainly by its use I am enabled to equalize the flame throughout the length of the slot, where otherwise the greater por tion of the flame would issue from the farther end only.

The distance between the deflector and the burner, above stated to be approximately on e third of the length of the chamber, will probably prove to be variable to a greater or less degree under various cire umstan ces, varyin g, perhaps, with different lengths of chamber for cloth of different widths, and perhaps also with the height of the burner above the floor of the combustion-chamber. I have heretofore placed the burner about half the distance from the floor to the top of the chamber, and if placed higher than this position the location of the deflector may well have to be changed from the position indicated.

Some means of changing the direction in which the burner C points is necessary to cause the fuel to strike the obstruction placed in its way in just such a manner as to produce the desired result. In ordinary cases this is readily accomplished by placing the burner upon a horizontal piece of pipe E E, Fig. 3, with screw-threads at each end, which permit it to be turned slightly in a vertical plane. If it is desired to make the flame and oil strike upon either side of the chamber, as might under certain conditions be necessary, the position of this pipe may be changed from a horizontal to a more or less perpendicular position, and, if necessary, other means-as a universal joint, for instancemay be sub stituted but as heretofore used the pipe with threads permitting it to be turned slightly is sufficient.

In the actual work of singeing it is usual to pass the cloth through more than one flame, and accordingly more than one combustionchamber with its accompanying burner is ordinarily required, and such an arrangement is shown in Fig. 1. For the purpose of constructing these the means shown by IVilliam S. Granger in his patent, No. 506,395, of October 10, 1893, is well adapted. In that patent combustion-chambers lined with lirebrick are built in metal troughs or boxes, of which a singe-plate forms the top or cover, and these troughs or boxes are then built into detachable sections. The same means may be advantageously used in constructing a singeing apparatus of these chambers, the singcplate being replaced by the slot from end to end of the chamber, as shown in Fig. 4, where F represents the iron trough or box into which the brick lining is built; or, if desired, a combination of chambers, some with singe-plates and some with the slots for flames, may be combined together in the same machine. The apparatus is then fitted with the same means for feeding the cloth, drawing it through, and winding it up that are usual in this class of IIO machines, and the cloth is run over the slots from which the flame issues, as in any other flame singeing apparatus.

I have above stated that I have heretofore preferably placed the burner at one end of the chamber on account of the ease of handling and controlling the flame from that position. If it were not for this case of handling, and were there but one chamber or sufficient room for the burners between the chambers, the more natural position would be in the middle of the length of the chamber; but were the burner placed in that position it should be located in the side of the chamber if the orifice for the exit of the flame is at the top and not upright through the floor, and the flame from the burner would necessarily then strike upon and be deflected from the opposite side of the chambers, assisted, if need be, by a properly-arranged deflector, for otherwise the flame from the burner cannot be equalized throughout the length of the slot, and in whatever position the burner is placed it will be found that the deflection and obstruction of the flame and oil in some way or other after it is injected into the chamber will be necessary in order to equalize the flame issuing from the slot, and thus sin ge the cloth equally throughout its width.

The term obstruction in the claims is to be understood as including the interior sur face of the combustion chamber, whether used with a distinct deflector, such as is shown in D, or alone without any deflector; and it is also to be understood that where the term slot is used in the following claims I mean to include within it any equivalent orifice, such as one or more rows of holes the length of the chamber through which the flame may issue.

lVhat I claim is 1. A cloth-singeing apparatus consisting of a combustion-chamber With a slot in one side and lengthwise of said chamber, a burner constructed to inject petroleum or petroleumoils into said chamber for combustion, and an obstruction located on one of the other sides of the chamber and between the ends thereof upon which said oil and the flame therefrom will strike afterbeing injected into said chamber, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. A cloth-singeing apparatus consisting of a combustion-chamber with a slot in one side and lengthwise of said chamber, a burner constructed to inject petroleum or petroleumoils into said chamber for combustion, means for Varying the direction of said burner relative to said chamber, and a deflector such as D placed on one of the other sides of the chamber and between the ends thereof in the path of the oil and the flame therefrom aft-er being injected into said chamber, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. A cloth-singeing apparatus consisting of a combustion-chamber with a slot in one side and lengthwise of the chamber, a burner constructed to inject fuel into the chamber for combustion, a surface on one of the other sides of the chamber and between the ends thereof in the path of the fuel and flame 

